Microsoft Windows 8, The other side.

It’s been a long time, centuries in IT terms, since Microsoft made the headlines. Its nemesis Apple, foresaw the technological shift a long time back, and has since been in the news for all the right reasons. Microsoft would now be hoping to catch the limelight through the launch of Windows 8, to relive some of the glory it so relished 17 years back. Coming back to the re-imagined part, there are those who would like to take a swing at this boast. Windows 8, as is rightly pointed out, is venturing into a whole new territory, and as you may agree, people aren’t particularly happy with the change. The new generation has already become accustomed to brand names like Apple and Samsung, and prefer iOS and Android. And then there’s the one-system-for-all debate; critics are ruthless. A disconnected, disjointed and disconcerting experience; a Jekyll and Hyde existence are just some of the colorful expressions used to express the opposition to such plans. The outcome? We’ll just have to wait and see. There are also those who believe that Windows 8 is Microsoft’s push for the end game. More than “re-imagining”, it’s “reeducating” the user to familiar themselves with their technology and new interface in the hopes of preparing them for the Windows phone, tablet and a digital world that is only about Windows without desktops.

Windows 95, probably the most commercially successful OS of all time, was launched in a blaze of glory. With the internet a budding revolution, Windows Helped to push it into the stratosphere of technological evolution. Thereafter there came a whole slew of Windows – 98, Vista and several others. But none could come close to the popularity of 95. Maybe now that computing trends are discussed in terms of tablets and clouds, Windows can relive the glory of that time.Windows 8 is coming at a particularly bad time in the company’s history. Just earlier in the year, Microsoft announced its first ever quarterly loss of $492 million. Everything that happens to this company is so monumental, isn’t it? So, they are now on the hunt for some sugar coating to help them swallow the bitter pill of not being flawless. And that, many suspect, has to be the successful launch and sales of Windows 8.Microsoft would also like to avert any untoward incidents: like the one at the launch of Windows 98. There, on stage, in the presence of the company’s legendary founder, Bill Gates, the system being shown off to the world, audience, cameras and all, simply crashed.

I know that was the kind of publicity that money can’t buy, albeit bad publicity. Before the advent of YouTube, that video of a helpless Bill Gates, the richest man on earth, smiling at the cameras, not in control of a situation, made rounds all over the information highways. Still, it’s something that will be new and shiny, and we would like to see it soon. And then, you would like to have bragging rights before anyone else. In fact, reports suggest that some consumers will have delayed buying new computers ahead of the release, affecting Microsoft’s sales in the meantime. Though companies that require a wholesome major , system update are to take some time before the rollout.